April Busy-ness

What a month!


On April 12, I went to the launch party for WHAT SHE WANTS, a new book by my friend Sheila Roberts.

 

 

Sheila always has fun games and/or giveaways at her readings. This one was held at The Loft in Poulsbo, Washington. Sheila taught me tons about writing craft back when she mentored me, and I'll forever appreciate her. Plus, she's a crack up!

 

 

 

Here's a picture of author George Shannon and illustrator Julie Paschkis with Margaret Nevinski and me behind them.

Their event for WHO PUT THE COOKIES IN THE COOKIE JAR? was at Eagle Harbor Book Company in Bainbridge Island, Washington, on April 14. There was a big turnout--and there were cookies!

books + friends + cookies = happy Dawn

SCBWI Western Washington's annual conference was in Redmond, Washington, last weekend. It was great! Our Advisory Committee blows me away with this conference every year, and it's always so uplifting to spend time with fellow SCBWI-ers. (You people genuinely feel like my tribe.)

A few conference highlights:
*I took a fabulous Revision Master Class taught by Kendra Levin, a senior editor at Viking Children's Books.
*Agent Julie Just led a session on manuscript openings that I really enjoyed. Note: Ms. Just is moving to Pippin Properties.
*The session on pacing by Robin LaFevers totally rocked. So much concrete information, people! Wow!

I feel refueled and ready to get some butt-in-chair writing done!


How about you? Have you been to any great book events or conferences lately? Whether you have or haven't, how do you stay fired up about writing?

Picture These: Three Picture Books (and One Dog Story)

Helloooo, bloggy friends! It's sunny and spring-y, and I am so ready for it. Seriously. Just last week, it was like, "Washington. Dude. Enough with the gray already."

Thistle and Pepper are excited about the blue skies, too. Here's a picture we took of Thistle yesterday when we stopped by a bakery.

The secret to whippets is they like warm and they like soft. Thistle wanted to lie on the toasty concrete, and I could read it in his eyes. I told my husband and, thirty seconds later, he started that circular walking motion he does before he lies down ("he" being my dog, not my husband). Then he flopped onto his side (again, we're talking Thistle, not Jim). But he was uncomfortable and looked at us like we should have brought a portable doggy bed, and he kept getting up and lying down again.

I love my dogs, and while I was contemplating taking something soft for Thistle next time, I think I need to draw the line. We put our dogs in coats when it's chilly outside, we tuck them in at night, and we baby them in all sorts of other ways. But there's something weird about carrying a bed around for your dog so he doesn't have to touch "outside." It may not be in the same league of weird as putting lipstick and dresses on chimpanzees, but it is out of the normal realm in the pet-owner relationship, yes?

Moving on!

After the bakery, we stopped by the bookstore. I picked up a picture book I love and plan to give as a gift. It's WHO PUT THE COOKIES IN THE COOKIE JAR?

 

WHO PUT THE COOKIES IN THE COOKIE JAR?

written by George Shannon, illustrated by Julie Paschkis

Henry Holt and Company

 

It's a beautiful book that shows the many hands that work together to make a cookie. The words and the illustrations are lovely, and the book has a sugar cookie recipe at the end. I would have loved to have read this to my kids when they were little, and to have followed up with a baking activity. Super fun! What makes it even more special to me is it was written by my good friend, the uber-talented George Shannon.

 

Local peeps ("peeps" as in people who live in the Seattle area, not the delicious marshmallow sugar-on-sugar candies): George and Julie Paschkis will be at Eagle Harbor Book Co. on April 14 at 3:00. I plan to be there. It's so cool to get a book signed by both the author and the illustrator!

 

 

 

I'd also like to point out two other picture books I've recently discovered...



 

Has anyone else read THE SUNFLOWER SWORD?

THE SUNFLOWER SWORD

written by Mark Sperring, illustrated by Miriam Latimer

Andersen Press USA



It's such a great book! There's a fabulous message, but the book is really fun and doesn't feel preachy.


The last picture book I'll mention today is BETTY BUNNY LOVES CHOCOLATE CAKE.

 

BETTY BUNNY LOVES CHOCOLATE CAKE

written by Michael B. Kaplan, illustrated by Stephane Jorisch

Dial

 

This book totally cracks me up! Anyone who knows what it's like to have to be patient, who knows how hard it is to have to eat dinner before dessert, and who loves chocolate cake will adore this book. (Note: I like the Publishers Weekly interview I linked to Michael B. Kaplan's name.)

 

 

Have you read any great picture books lately? Do you think I should be carrying a blanket for bakery stops with Thistle and Pepper?

Emerald City Comicon

Last weekend, we went to Emerald City Comicon and met new friends.

My husband, Jim, liked Gumby...

and this group.

There were sweet people,

villains,

and intergalactic types.

This guy was kind of scary, but in a good way. He really got into character.

(Note the blurriness of the picture because I was trying not to have a heart attack as I photographed him.)


It was a super fun day!

Great book alert!

Have you read DEVINE INTERVENTION by Martha Brockenbrough? Oh, my gosh! What a fun read!

DEVINE INTERVENTION

(Arthur A. Levine Books, June 2012)

Let me share some cool things about Martha before I tell you about her book! In addition to being an author and a mom, she's a freelance writer and a blogger (her own blog, SCBWI Team Blog, and the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar blog). Something great about her is how supportive and encouraging she is to other writers, whether aspiring authors or published. Martha founded National Grammar Day and the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. (Note: National Grammar Day is coming up on March 4!) She is hilarious! She has a grammar book, THINGS THAT MAKE US [sic], which she says is "funny and slightly naughty." Her picture book, THE DINOSAUR TOOTH FAIRY, will be coming out in summer 2013. Also, she has really cute taste in clothes.


Now on to the book! Here's the flap copy:

There is a great legend of the guardian angel who traveled on handsome wings across time and space for the human girl he loved, slaying those who would threaten her with a gleaming sword made of heavenly light.

This is not that story.

Jerome Hancock is Heidi Devine's guardian angel. Sort of. He's more of an angel trainee, in heaven's soul-rehabilitation program for wayward teens. And he's just about to get kicked out for having too many absences and for violating too many of the Ten Commandments for the Dead.

Heidi, meanwhile, is a high school junior who dreams of being an artist, but has been drafted onto her basketball team because she's taller than many a grown man. For as long as she can remember, she's heard a voice in her head--one that sings Lynyrd Skynyrd, offers up bad advice, and yet is company during those hours she feels most alone.

When the unthinkable happens, these two lost souls must figure out where they went wrong and whether they can make things right before Heidi's time is up and her soul is lost forever.

Martha Brockenbrough's debut novel is hilarious, heartbreaking, and hopeful, with a sense of humor that's wicked as hell, and writing that's just heavenly.


I love Martha's writing voice! DEVINE INTERVENTION is told through Jerome's first-person and Heidi's third-person points of view, and it's very well-crafted. As a reader, I could tell immediately I was in the hands of a professional storyteller and relax into the journey. Both of the main characters wiggled into my heart right away, and I enjoyed reading each one's chapters. Martha nailed the male and female perspectives. Also, her sense of humor shines consistently throughout the entire book.

I recommend DEVINE INTERVENTION.

* * *

Here are a couple other reviews:

"Frequently hysterical . . . devastatingly honest writing that surprises with its occasional beauty and hits home with the keenness of its insight."

--Kirkus Reviews, starred review


"So much fun. . . an insightful story about seizing life for all it's worth while you have the chance."

--Publishers Weekly

Book Magic

The cover was stained and faded, and the pages were tattered. The book I flipped through at the library book sale was clearly at the end of its life. I almost put it back. But...it was a story about a car making its way home, and my son, a toddler at the time, was crazy for cars, trucks, trains, tractors--any kind of vehicle that moved on wheels or tracks. It cost next to nothing so it would more than pay for itself if my son enjoyed listening to the story and looking at the bright illustrations even once. Into the bag it went with the rest of the books.

The book I'd almost left behind quickly became one of my son's favorites. The pages that had seemed too shabby were clearly just well-loved. We read it again and again, gently turning each already-tearing page. Repeated readings led to memorization. Soon my son could fill in the missing words whenever I paused and pointed to the text. He was in the early stages of decoding the symbols on the page that spelled out every word in every story we'd ever shared. He was beginning to read.

The book? TRAFFIC: A BOOK OF OPPOSITES by Betsy and Giulio Maestro.


Our kids have been showered in books since birth. Many were library books, many were used, and many were new since even our tightest budgets seemed to loosen when it came to books for the kids. New or used never mattered; what counted was what came between the covers. Different books sang to each of them at various ages.

That's the way it is, isn't it? You discover a book that's just what you need or want at the moment. It touches a part of you, somewhere between your head and your chest, and it's as if someone created it just for you.

It's magic. Book magic.


My son is now a teen. He's taller than I am, and the tiny hands that brought me treasured stories to read aloud now dwarf mine. He reads faster than I do, texts better, and knows way more about computers. He has zero interest in reading stories together. It might seem hard to imagine that he's the same person as the little guy who counted the eggs with me in Margaret Wise Brown's BIG RED BARN and lit up every time I pulled out that faded, worn out book.

But he is the same person.


Today I'm dusting his room. It's long overdue, so I need to really dust--you know, when you actually pull everything from the shelves instead of skirting around books and knickknacks.

Removing items from his shelves, I travel through time. To the left of the t-ball trophies, beyond the middle grade novels, above Wired magazine and the Kindle...picture books.

I take one from the shelf and set it down extra gently. The cover is stained and faded, and the pages are tattered.

Betsy and Giulio Maestro...You don't know me, but back in 1981, when I was still a child, you had a book published. You created it just for my son. Thank you for the magic.

This and That

Don't all die of shock since I'm posting two times in one week. It's just that I have some fun things I want to share. Music, please!

*My friend Stasia Kehoe has exciting news. She has another book deal! I'm so happy for her! Congratulations to Stasia!


*SCBWI Western Washington had a Kid Lit Drink Night on Friday. It was a rainy night, but those of us who went had a really nice time.

front row: Kevan Atteberry
back row: Margaret Nevinski, me, Rowena Russell, Andrea Lawson, Christina Wilsdon, and Jennifer Mann

Kevan is not a camera hog, leaping in front of everyone else! Jen Photoshopped him in because we didn't think to pull out cameras until he'd already left. Personally, I think the Photoshopping makes the picture so much better!


*Have you seen the Dora the Explorer movie trailer by CollegeHumor.com? Wee-hee-hee!


*Writer-friend Barb Davis-Pyles has a fun blog called The Mind's Elbow. If you haven't discovered it yet, I recommend you check it out!


*This Thursday, Thistle and Pepper will turn eight years old!

Pepper and Thistle

In honor of Thistle and Pepper, people all across the United States will gather with family and friends on November 22, celebrating. Obscene amounts of food will be consumed, and there is going to be a huge parade in New York City--and Santa will be there!

(Okay, I admit it might not be all about Pepper and Thistle. Just don't tell them that.)


Happy Thanksgiving!

The Classics

ANNA KARENINA is now in select theaters, and the trailer is beautiful. I can't see the movie yet, though. I'm reading the book for the first time.

I'm at the part where--Nah, I won't say. No spoilers here! I'll just tell you I'm about 3/4 of the way through the novel, and I'm looooving it!

I've been treating myself to other classics lately, too. I go through phases where I especially crave them and feel nourished by them. I suppose it's ironic that old stories make my writing spirit feel new again. In talking with other writers, however, I'm not alone in this. It makes sense: the classics have withstood the test of time for a reason. Maps change, wars begin and end, languages evolve, technology improves, and we can feel so far from the world as it was in the times of, say, Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Tolstoy, Twain, or Fitzgerald. Yet...the human heart remains the same, and a good story is a good story.

How about you? Do you often read or reread the classics? What feeds your writing spirit?